Digital Learning Versus Education Technology Part Two, and a Look to the Future
A recent post looked at some issues in digital learning versus ed tech. That post argued that traditional ed tech is based on and in traditional schools and physical classrooms, and as such is not transformative in the ways that online and hybrid instruction are, because online/hybrid programs eliminate time and space constraints.
This post further explores that theme, again using Larry Cuban’s writing as a jumping off point.
Cuban’s recent blog post reviews the history of the Apple Classroom of Tomorrow, which was a desktop computer 1:1 initiative in the 1980s. He writes of the research done into the project:
“[The researcher] asked questions and made observations then that are just as relevant in 2021:
Do computers change the way teachers teach?
How are computers used instructionally?
Do computers simplify or complicate teaching?”
These questions make perfect sense from an ed tech perspective. In fact, they are similar to the questions asked in many recent major studies, along with the question of whether technology improves student outcomes (however these outcomes are measured.)
But in the online and hybrid learning context, these questions come across as so uninformed as to be non-sensical.
Do computers change the way teachers teach in an online school? The answer has elements of both an emphatic YES! and an equally emphatic NO!
Do teachers teach differently in an online school? The answer is obviously yes, as anyone with experience in online learning can attest. In most online and hybrid schools, teachers are focused on individual and small group instruction, using data to better understand each student’s academic status, and—at least in some schools—building better and closer relationships with students.
But do computers change the teaching methods? No. Many aspects of teaching at a distance, and elimination of time constraints, are forcing the changes. Computers (and other technologies) allow for changes to teaching. The entire instructional modality is different, and the computer is a tool. The research questions listed above make perfect sense in the ed tech context, and no sense at all in the digital learning context.
Unfortunately, other common questions asked by policymakers, the media, and some researchers are also off-target in that they focus primarily on changes in test scores (for example in the multi-national OECD study) instead of viewing the opportunities that online and hybrid learning create. These studies frame educational impact primarily, if not entirely, around whether an “intervention” raises test scores. But the better way to look at digital learning is through the lens of new options for students, with the full understanding that many students will prefer a mainstream, traditional school. These new options may include a new school, or courses that wouldn’t be available if they weren’t online. They also may include opportunities to take college courses or engage in career exploration through jobs or internships that become available because of the time flexibility that online learning can create.
The researchers quoted above demonstrate an understanding of some of these issues even while not showing a full understanding of the range of digital learning. They note that the value of “students using computers as vehicles for exploration, independent learning, and individual pursuit” is blocked by, among other things:
“-teacher-centered classrooms;
-curricular objectives required by the district or school; [and]
-individual and school evaluations based on traditional standardized tests not sensitive to new kinds of learning…”
All of these aspects of traditional public education do indeed stand in the way of wider adoption of online and hybrid learning.
The question now, in this late-stage pandemic time, is will a wider understanding of these relatively new forms of digital learning win out over traditional views of ed tech? There are reasons to be pessimistic, and reasons to be optimistic.
The pessimist’s case: “The blob” favors the status quo, and always wins in the end. What’s “the blob”? It’s the web of everything in public education. A short list, in no particular order:
Governance and organizational structures (federal-state-school board-superintendent-district leadership-school leadership-teachers) in which, in many cases, everyone in the chain of control must sign off, and any one level can impede change.
Policies, especially around funding, accountability, and assessments.
Budgeting and accounting practices within districts, which often limit growth of innovative district-run schools and programs.
Parent expectations.
The optimist’s case:
The pandemic created unprecedented frustration with the blob among education leaders, teachers, and parents.
For the most part and with some exceptions, online and hybrid schools, course providers, and teachers performed well during the pandemic, demonstrating an alternative to the status quo.
Major companies in the non-disruptive ed tech space are showing interest in the disruptive, digital elements of technology.
I would still bet on the blob winning out, if forced to take a side. Most likely, online and hybrid will reach far larger numbers of students (in percentage terms) than pre-pandemic, but will remain a niche.
But I’m ever so slightly optimistic that I’m wrong and that we are in fact on the cusp of major, widespread changes in education in the next few years.